


The Duet

by KingofTerrors



Series: Starting Again [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: 18 year old Luz Noceda, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amity Blight is in the Emperor's Coven, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Enemies, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: s01e19 Young Blood Old Souls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29759928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingofTerrors/pseuds/KingofTerrors
Summary: Inspired by the art of @cutetanuki-chan (Tumblr), and written in conjunction with Tanuki. Part of a series based on her series of art.The Duet is a five-part story based on the first picture:https://cutetanuki-chan.tumblr.com/post/641127170403598336/stand-up-get-out-sometimes-things-dont-go-asInstead of destroying the portal back in Young Blood Old Souls, Luz had been returned to the human realm and trapped there for four years. Now 18, Luz has found her way back to the Boiling Isles, and has to deal with everything that has changed in the meantime: the rise of the Emperor's power, and Amity's capitulation to her parents' dream for her. Let the rebellion begin!
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: Starting Again [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187234
Comments: 11
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

It was rough this time. It took longer. The light was blinding. There was no ground to stand on. She was being thrown from side to side, up and down. It was furnace hot. Then freezing cold. There was nothing to do but grit her teeth and hang on.

When she was finally spit out the other end she fell headlong. She couldn’t see for a while, couldn’t hear, couldn’t stand, couldn’t even move. It was all she could do to lie and groan while her body tried to remember how all its different bits worked together. 

The first thing she was aware of was a voice. No, two voices. They sounded distant at first, until her brain remembered how ears worked, and she realised they were close, right next to her – above her, in fact.

“Is it her? Is she okay?”

“I don’t know! We’ve never done this before!”

“She’s very still…”

“Wait… she just made a noise. She’s in there. Give her a moment.”

Now she moved. Fingers, hand, wrist, arm… She pulled her hands up to rub at her eyes, trying to persuade them to work again. Finally she cracked open her eyelids, flinching at the intensity of the light, until once again her senses adjusted.

Two figures, leaning over her. Her brain kicked in. Sound, vision, memories came together.

“Eda?”

“Luz! It’s you! It’s really you!”

She had never seen Eda cry before. It was disconcerting.

As if finally given permission, Eda reached for her, cradling her head, taking her hand, stroking her cheek. “Take a moment ok, kiddo? I wasn’t even sure that would work, or what it would do to anyone going through it. Take it easy.”

Luz just lay there in the beautiful unlikely unreality of it all. She was really here. Eda was really here. She became aware of the damp on her own cheeks as the tears flowed – unexpected, unbidden. She had dreamed of this day for so long. Eda rested Luz’s head on her lap, her long fingers stroking through the human’s hair, the pair of them content just to be, at least for now.

The other person gave them a minute, maybe two, before their nerves kicked in.

“Eda, we can’t stay here.”

“For pity’s sake, Lily!”

The name brought Luz out of her reverie, and her head snapped up. “Lilith?!”

Eda’s hand rested soothingly on her shoulder. “Easy, kid. A lot’s happened. There’s a lot we need to fill you in on.”

But the anger was too swift and hot to be denied. Luz pulled herself up onto her feet, ignoring the wobble in her legs as she confronted the woman who had occupied her thoughts for so long. “It was her fault! She was the one who got you caught! Who sold me out! Who sent me...”

Lilith spread her hands disarmingly. “Most of that is true. I can’t deny it, Luz. But there’s more to the...”

“You sent me back and closed the portal! Four years, Lilith! For four years I couldn’t get back! I searched... I studied... every rumour, every story, every lead I could. I came back to that house every day. Every day! And then...” She broke off, staring around, really seeing the familiar purples and oranges of the Boiling Isles for the first time. “Why now? How am I back here now? Why did it work this time?”

Eda came to stand next to her, her voice gentle. “Lily gave up the portal. She gave it to Belos - to save me. You were down for the count - that bang on your head took you out of the picture for a while, and she made the best call she could. There was no telling what Belos might have done to you if you stayed in the Isles. So she left you on your side of the portal before she handed it over. It was what I’d have done, Luz. It was for your sake, and for mine.”

“If she had never kidnapped me...”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Eda waved a hand. “I know. But things have changed. Once she got us out of there Lily began working to fix those mistakes. Without her help I would never have been able to cobble together the portal you just jumped through. It was dangerous, experimental... But it worked. And here you are!” She laid her hands on Luz’s shoulders, taking a good long look at her. “I can’t believe you’re as tall as I am now.”

“This is all well and good, but we are not safe here.” Lilith was looking around nervously. “That magical surge will have been noticed by somebody. If we don’t want to be picked up by a Coven patrol we need to move. Now.”

“Okay.” Luz stared around them, looking for a sign of the portal that had brought her to the Isles this time. There was nothing - just trees and undergrowth. They must be in the heart of one of the Isles’ many forests. “Do we need to take the portal with us?”

Eda gave a bark of laughter. “Like I said, how we got you here this time was rather different. The curse took all my magic, so we had to look for a new way to do things.” She gestured at her eyes, and Luz noticed for the first time that one had changed colour - from the usual deep gold to a dark slate grey. “Let’s say I took a leaf out of your book.” She reached into the bag slung around her shoulder and produced a notebook - each page marked with a...

“Glyphs!” Luz grabbed the book and flipped through it delightedly. Most she knew, but some were completely new to her. “You’ve been researching?”

Eda grinned, her gold tooth glinting. “Yup. And we just carried out our first successful experiment of our newest discovery. We knew it had to exist somewhere, but it took far too long to find it.”

“A glyph portal?! There’s a glyph that can bridge our worlds?!”

“There sure is, kid. A little rough and ready, but you’re more or less in one piece, right?”

Luz gave a whoop and impulsively yanked Eda into a tight hug. “You’re a genius!”

The witch returned the hug and laughed. “I’ve heard it said.”

“Ladies...” Lilith’s voice was tight and impatient. “We. Have. To. Go.”

By the time the Coven patrol found the clearing where the surge had been reported there was nothing to be found. Just some trampled down brush and a scorch mark that could have come from anything. The sergeant marked the report as inconclusive - nothing worthy of a follow up.

***

They moved fast through the woods. Lilith insisted that they walk, not fly, so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention, but they made good time all the same. Luz had no idea where they were or where they were heading. There were no signs of civilization at all – just trees and rocks.

“We moved the Owl House,” Eda explained as they walked. “Belos knew where it was, and it made us a target. Hooty can look after us, but we couldn’t stay there like sitting ducks. Now we move every month or so, just to be safe.”

“So what happened with the Emperor?”

“What happened? Nothing much, so far as we can tell. He got what he wanted – the portal. I have no idea what he’s done with it, but you didn’t notice anything weird happening in the human realm, right? So… hopefully nothing awful. Here though…” Eda trailed off. 

Lilith picked up the thread. “It’s been getting worse,” she said, simply. “Belos’ control has been getting tighter and tighter, and more and more people are finding themselves arrested or harassed. Plenty have just disappeared. There’s serious talk of an uprising. People can’t live like this anymore.”

“And my friends?” Luz felt a pang of worry. “Gus? Willow?”

“Both still at Hexside,” Eda replied. “Doing well, as far as I know. Willow is a powerful witch, and Gus is coming into his own now. They’ve been helping us with our research, when they could. Neither of them gave up on you finding your way back here someday.”

“And Amity?”

There was a long silence. The two adult witches exchanged glances.

“Eda?”

“I’m sorry kid. Amity… let’s just say she hasn’t landed on the right side of all this.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Amity's turn, and she has a big decision to make. Or is it a decision at all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tanuki has created a stunning animatic for the final scenes of this chapter! Don't watch it until you've read to the end unless you want to be spoiled, but the moment you do, come check it out and give Tanuki all the love!
> 
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypq6ZrTSUcM>

Amity was dreaming again. The same dream. It was always the same dream. Whenever she was stressed, whenever she was pushed, this was where her sleeping mind went.

It was the day of the grudgby match. Luz had done what she always did, and thrown her friends and herself in at the deep end. Amity, an expert grudgby player, knew how ridiculous, how potentially dangerous, it was to challenge the Banshees on their home turf, but Luz had a way of making the impossible possible.

They were playing in a team together. She, Luz and Willow, done up in grudgby gear and playing their hearts out. It was fun. It was so much fun. Amity’s heart soared as they worked together in harmony, scoring goal after goal as they out-thought and out-played their opposition. Boscha glared at her with a mixture of anger and confusion, and that only made it better. She was beside Luz. They were relying on each other, trusting each other. 

It was the happiest she had ever been.

That was where the dream changed. Where it always changed.

The sky darkened. The wind picked up. Halfway through a play, Amity called to Luz for a pass. There was no reply. She turned to look.

Luz wasn’t there. Nobody was there. She was alone.

A crash of what sounded like lightning split the air, and suddenly Amity realised she wasn’t out in the open. The grudgby field was in a box. It was in a giant box and the box was closing in, shrinking little by little.

She could see the way out - the gate, leading back to Hexside. She moved to run to it, but she couldn’t. She looked down, and her ankle was twisted at an odd angle - broken. She started to move, limping heavily on the broken bone, but it was like she was moving through molasses.

The walls closed in. They were moving faster now, far faster than she could make ground towards the gate.

They were coming, they were coming, they were pressing in on her, crushing her...

And then she woke up.

Her room was dark. It must be well before dawn. Her breath was coming in short, panicked gasps, and she worked to slow it, to make less noise. Had she screamed? She didn’t think so. Mom would be in here if she had made too much fuss. An exploratory hand revealed what she had feared - she was absolutely soaked with sweat.

Resigned, she sat up, pushing the damp covers down to the end of the bed. They would need washing. Her body felt as if she had just finished a cross-country race. She pushed lank strands of hair out of her face, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a trembling hand. A quick look at her scroll revealed the truth - 4am. She wasn’t going to get to sleep again, certainly not given the state of her bed. Might as well make the best of it. She hauled herself to her feet, grabbed a towel, and shuffled down the carpeted hallway towards the shower. An early start. She could make it work for her.

By the time she was washed and dried, sitting in front of the mirror to brush out her hair, she felt a little more like herself. There was something therapeutic about the lengthy process of brushing out long hair. You had to be slow, methodical, or pay the price later. She ran her fingers through a handful, feeling its strength as she let it run over her palm, letting it slip back down to hang nearly down to her waist, enjoying its smoothness, its straightness. At least this was simple. She checked her reflection in the mirror. Her roots were showing again, but soon she wouldn’t be around her mother to be nagged about it. She could make it through this last couple of days.

Breakfast was stiff, formal and functional as normal. Amity and her parents ate in silence, until some kind of inbuilt paternal pressure drove Dad to attempt some fatherly conversation.

“You were up early, Amity.”

“Oh, yes. Sorry – I tried to be quiet.”

“No harm done. You know how light a sleeper your mother is.” Dad rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Nerves getting to you?”

Amity looked down at her plate. “Something like that.”

“Surely you’re not nervous about tomorrow?” Mom leaned forward, brows furrowed. “You’ve been waiting for this day for so long. Now your dream comes true!”

“I know.” Amity struggled for the right words. “It’s just… it’s felt a long way off for so many years. And now… now it’s right there. Everything’s going to change.”

“Well you know you’ll have a warm welcome waiting for you. The twins haven’t stopped talking about you joining them in the Coven since you passed the entrance test.” Mom smiled fondly. “Just think… all our children together serving in the Emperor’s Coven. I feel so proud.”

“I’ve got to get through the last day of school first.”

“Well you don’t need to worry about that. The last day of school is just an excuse to goof off and annoy your teach…” Dad recognized the look he was getting from Mom and cleared his throat hastily. “I mean… just keep your head down and finish strong. Soon you’ll have much bigger things to think about.”

“Yes Dad.”

“Make us proud, dear.” From Mom it was less an encouragement and more a veiled threat.

“I will, Mom.”

Dad nodded approvingly. Parental duties completed, they lapsed back into silence until the clock on the mantel chimed the half hour. A couple of minutes later Amity was beginning her solitary journey to Hexside for the last time.

***

The last day of school was an odd experience. Many of the graduating students were treating the day just like Dad had suggested – a day to hang out with your friends for the last time, to prank teachers and other students alike, and to misuse the school facilities as fully as possible. Boscha led her little clique in the most obvious of these activities. Amity didn’t join them. She hadn’t truly hung out with Boscha for years now, not since… She shut down that thought. Not that there was any real animosity there. They had still been forced into each-others’ presences at their parents’ various networking occasions. They had developed an impressive array of small talk and faked smiles. That was all that was required.

She saw Willow and Gus across a hallway and promptly walked in the other direction. There was no point courting that controversy. If Mom found out she had broken her word on the last day of school there would be hell to pay.

The result of all this was that she spent the day alone – reading, mostly. Lessons were perfunctory, and the breaks were spent with the latest _Good Witch Azura_. The teachers offered their congratulations on her good exam results, her guaranteed place in the Emperor’s Coven. They wished her good luck for the entrance ceremony the next day. She spent quite a portion of the day saying thank you. 

She wanted to scream.

It was fake.

It was all so fake.

She felt like a shadow puppet – one of those little dolls you controlled with sticks on their limbs, acting out a silhouette play for everyone to laugh at. The sense of déjà vu was overpowering. She had imagined it so often. She had been told about how this was going to go so often. Now she was here, and she felt… she felt sick. Trapped. Lost. Alone.

But she couldn’t stop. She had to go through the motions. Because that was what was expected. She was a Blight. Blights have a certain standard to adhere to. And the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.

By the end of the day she was wound tighter than a spring. Suppressed emotions had turned to restless energy, burning under her skin. She had to get out. She had to do something. 

At last the final bell screamed out, and the students flooded out into the streets of Bonesborough, laughing, chatting, enjoying the sense of freedom. No more school!

Amity wasn’t with them. She slipped out as quietly as possible, skirting the crowds, walking with purpose. Or at least with energy. She didn’t know where she was going, she just had to move, had to work off some of this frustration. She couldn’t go home like this – the risk of her control slipping in front of her parents was too great. She walked through the town, out into the surrounding fields, following the road wherever it led. After a couple of minutes she broke into a jog, then a run, until she was sprinting full out wherever her feet would lead her, through the forest, up and up until she found herself on a cliff edge, staring down into the surf of the Boiling Sea.

The air was clearer up here. The wind whipped through her hair as she leaned her hands on her knees, breathing deeply, letting her heart rate return to something approaching normal. The sense of explosive energy gradually dissipated in the stillness and solitude. In this moment at least, there was escape, however fleeting. She turned, curious as to where she’d ended up, and froze. 

Perhaps a hundred feet away, a tree stood at the edge of the forest. Its thick trunk was made of multiple strands, twisted together and branching out into a mighty canopy of soft pink leaves.

_Why here? Why now?_

It stood like an accusation. Like a promise of what might have been.

Amity spun around, turning her back and covering her ears as if the tree itself were trying to speak to her. She couldn’t be here. 

A moment later she hunched her shoulders and began the walk back. She had to get home. Her parents would be wondering where she was. There was so much to do. She had responsibilities. She was a Blight.

***

The sun was setting by the time she arrived back at Blight Manor. Amity tried to enter as quietly as possible, but the door had barely clicked shut before a voice called out from her mother’s parlour.

“Amity? You’re late! What kept you?”

She followed the sound reluctantly. Mom would expect a proper response. In her parlour Odalia sat on an overstuffed sofa facing the door, a book in her lap. Her posture was very upright. 

“Nothing serious, Mom. A walk, that’s all.”

“A walk? When there’s so much to be done before tomorrow?”

“Sorry.”

“Dinner will be in half an hour. Perhaps you can be on time for that?”

Amity just nodded meekly, and Mom dismissed her with an impatient wave of her hand. She headed upstairs to her room, threw her bag into one corner and her shoes into another, and collapsed full length on her bed. Immediately she felt fatigue roll over her, a tiredness she hadn’t been aware she’d been keeping at bay. It had been a long strange day. She had half an hour. Perhaps a nap was just what she needed. Perhaps she could just…

She woke up to darkness and her mother’s voice.

“Amity Blight! Will you keep us waiting _again_?!”

She was upright and on her feet before conscious thought kicked in. “I’m coming!”

***

Dinner began silent and strained. It didn’t help that Amity just wasn’t hungry. That restlessness from before had returned, and settled as a vague feeling of sickness in the pit of her stomach. She pushed the good food around her plate with a fork, growing ever more aware of her mother’s disapproving stare, feeling the energy building inside her. The feeling of _wrongness_ was all-pervasive, like everything was on tilt.

Once again it took Alador’s sense of dinnertime propriety to break the silence. 

“How was your last day at school, Amity?”

“It was…” she glanced up at Dad’s face, and bit down on what she really wanted to say. “…fine.”

He frowned. “Just fine?”

She had never felt like this before. The truth boiled inside her. She felt like a volcano about to erupt. If he kept asking, she was going to answer, really answer. Underneath the table her free hand clenched into a fist.

“Yep.”

“You don’t look like somebody who had a ‘fine’ day.”

Amity set her fork down on the table with an audible click. Focus. Channel it. She could keep a hold on herself. “Okay. It was weird, Dad. It was a really weird day.”

“Oh?” Mom raised one impeccable eyebrow.

“Have you ever gone through a day feeling like you were just… reading a script? Like you were an actor playing a part?”

“I can’t say I have.” Odalia’s voice was clipped, precise.

“I wonder…” A strange feeling came over her, like she was having an out of body experience, like she was watching herself from a distance. “I wonder… if I could change my mind.”

“About what?”

“I know it’s been my future for so long, but… now I’m here, it just doesn’t feel right.” She trailed off, her eyes firmly trained on the tabletop.

“You’re talking about joining the Emperor’s Coven?” that was Dad, his deep voice calm and reasonable. “It sounds like the nerves _are_ getting to you. Last minute jitters.”

“I don’t know.” She felt tears inexplicably gathering, and forced them down with an effort. “Dad, if I really wanted to, could I change my mind about this? Take a break to make sure that the Emperor’s Coven is really where I belong?”

“Why ever would it not be?” Mom was leaning forward now, her fists bunched on the edge of the table.

“Odalia…” Dad’s voice was gently reproving.

“No, Alador, this is important.” She turned back to her daughter, eyes flashing. “Why would it not be, Amity? Is it not what you’ve been working for, your whole life? Hasn’t it been your dream? What is this?”

“Mom…” Amity shook her head, helplessly. She couldn’t do this. She had said too much already. If she stayed, there was no telling what would slip out. “I’m sorry. I… I should go.” She pushed her chair back, and stood abruptly, turning and heading for the door.

The sound of chair legs scraping across hardwood rang out loud in the room behind her, and her mother’s voice raised in a growl. “Did I say you could leave?”

She stopped just short of the doorway, as if held on an invisible leash.

“Turn around.”

She turned, and immediately flinched back. Odalia was on her feet, her face like thunder. The older witch closed the distance between them in two short strides. Amity had grown a lot in the last year or so, but Odalia was still markedly taller.

“Are you saying you want to reject the Emperor’s Coven? You want to turn them down, like they were an unwelcome Grom proposal? This is your _dream_!”

“No, Mom, it’s _your_ dream!” It was out of her mouth before she could stop it. “It’s what you always wanted for me, and I thought if I could want it too, then… then everything would be okay! But it isn’t! I’ve seen… I’ve seen some of the things the Emperor’s Coven does. My friends…”

“Your _friends_.” Odalia spat the word out like it was toxic. “Willow and that human and their little group were never your _friends_ , Amity. We took our eye off you for one month and you get led astray by those rebels in waiting. I thought you were over all that!”

“Willow wasn’t the one who showed me what the Emperor’s Coven is really like. They did that themselves. They show us every day. Petrifications, imprisonments, disappearances… You know it as well as I do! How can I work for a force that does all that?”

Odalia was almost spluttering with rage. “I cannot believe my own daughter has been listening to such nonsense. I knew Bump was a soft touch, but he has let things go too far this time. There is no place in our lives for conspiracy theories, Amity! The Emperor protects us! His Coven keeps us safe from the forces of disorder that would divide and harm us! They do good work for us all!”

Amity was half turned away now, her arm protectively across her body, her shoulders hunched like she was facing a headwind. All that proud resistance melted away in the face of her mother’s furious assault.

“Have you forgotten? Being a member of the Emperor’s Coven is one of the most respected positions a witch can hold! They have offered you a place – power, security, prestige – and you’ve decided you’re _too good_ for them?! How dare you?! How dare you even think of rejecting that?”

Amity stared at the floor.

“And if it was our ambition for you? Well what’s wrong with that! To serve the Emperor is the highest goal you could reach for! Of course we want that for you! And we did everything in our power to support you. The sacrifices we made, Amity… the time, the effort… you want to throw that away too. How could you be so ungrateful? To toss aside the opportunities we worked so hard to give you?”

Odalia folded her arms, bringing her temper back under control as suddenly as she had released it, her voice tight and controlled once more. “I will hear no more of it. Do you understand me?”

Amity’s mouth opened, but no words would form. What could she say?

“Do you _understand me_?!” It was a sudden shout.

“Yes!” Her fingers clenched tighter into the fabric of her uniform. “Yes. I understand.”

“Good. Now go to your room. Tomorrow we will take you to the entrance ceremony, and we will see you officially inducted into the Coven. I won’t allow you to throw all this effort away, Amity. You mark my words.” A momentary pause. “Go.”

She fled. 

***

It was dark.

Amity was sat on her bed, her knees hugged to her chest. She didn’t know what time it was, only that it was late. The rest of the house was silent. Her parents must have long since retired to bed.

Her memory box sat on the bed next to her. It had always been her charm against the bad stuff – the negative voices that nagged from the back of her brain, the times her parents had made her feel small and stupid and worthless, the times she felt lost and alone. In the box were the good memories, the brighter times, and if she held onto them hard enough everything else could melt away, just for a while.

She glanced down at her hand, and registered as if for the first time the object digging into her palm. It was her Grom Tiara, from that night. Four years. It had been four years since she danced with… her brain tried to shut the thought down, an automatic defence system, but tonight she stopped it, and let the memory unfold. Four years since she danced with Luz. Four years since their connection had been given physical manifestation in the form of the tree. Why had her feet taken her to it on this day of all days? She dismissed the question, content to sit with the memory – the warmth, the excitement, the lo… Now she did stop herself. That wouldn’t help. Luz was gone. Had been gone for all that time. She wasn’t coming back. She couldn’t mourn that loss again.

What would Luz have said about this situation? If she knew Amity had to join the Emperor’s Coven the very next day, what would she have done? Amity smiled ruefully. There was no question in her mind. She would have asked what Amity herself wanted. And then she would have done her utmost to make it happen. There were no barriers with Luz – no sense of boundaries on the possible. For her, everything was possible, if you were willing to work for it. Yet another reason. Amity had fallen so hard, so fast, but was it any surprise? Luz made the world brighter. A world with Luz was a world in colour. She’d been living in monochrome for so long.

Her eyes slid sideways, lighting on the poster by her bedside. “Join the Emperor’s Coven: TODAY!” It was a new version. The old one, featuring the Coven’s previous head witch, had been ripped from the wall as soon as Lilith’s betrayal had come to light. Her parents found her a replacement in short order. Even the memory box and the tiara she held like a talisman couldn’t quiet the immediate flashback to dinner, and her mother’s fury. As long as she was here, as long as she was a Blight, her path was laid out for her. There was no room to move or change. It wasn’t even ‘the Coven or nothing’, it was just ‘the Coven’. There were no other options. She let her head fall forward onto her knees, hugging herself fiercely. The walls were closing in.

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed like that, drifting in the darkness. But as she drifted, another memory slipped into her mind’s eye. Another occasion when she had felt lost, hurt, her future unclear. The Covention. When she discovered Lilith’s dishonesty, the Construction Coven glyph that had been planted on her, she had run. She had settled in the nearest hiding place, balled up in her disappointment and mortification. It was then that Luz had found her. The very girl she’d been fighting against came to comfort her. It was ridiculous. It was absolutely against everything she had been taught. But Luz didn’t care about any of that. She reached out to Amity, showed her the depth of her hard work and dedication. Amity would never forget that ball of light Luz conjured, warm in the shadows of the side corridor. It was so small, so simple… but it meant so much.

Back in her own room, Amity looked up. A ball of light… no, more than one… a cluster of light globes floated around her bed. She smiled. She couldn’t help it. The memory was so strong… she’d summoned these reminders of that day, of Luz herself, without even thinking about it. Her finger twirled through a summoning circle and another ball of light sprang out to float up with the others. They lit the room softly, and where everything had been shades of grey now she could see colour again. She thought of the last time she had seen Luz in person – sat side by side in the Owl House, surrounded by friends. Luz was gone, but Luz’s friends, her mentor… they were still here. Could that be the way out she was searching for?

Amity’s hand slammed closed, and the lights disappeared. No. This was stupid. Why was she thinking like this? Why would she risk this? She hadn’t returned to the Owl House since that day. Once she had learned that Luz was gone and those who had participated in the short-lived protest at the Conformatorium were under close surveillance, she had cut all ties. Her parents made her promise – she wouldn’t socialize with Willow and Gus or any of the others ever again. The risk to the family through association was too great. She would hardly be welcome in the Owl Lady’s home.

No. She had a future waiting for her. Mom had made it clear – the Coven was a good, respected place to be. She would have power and prestige. She would be able to get things done – far more than she could manage as some lesser Coven’s member. Everything was already in place. She just had to show up.

And yet…

And yet…

She had to try. 

Amity looked up, her heart beating fast as she realized what she was about to do. She was terrified. But here and now, making this decision… the walls had stopped. She would reach out to the one place she had left to go. The last thread of the life that she had imagined, back during that heady summer.

She took up her staff, running her hand fondly over the palisman that crowned the blonde wood. Time to fly.

She stepped up into the window, threw it wide… and without a backward look, took off into the night sky.

***

Amity skimmed low over the forest, wary of attracting the wrong kind of attention. The Emperor’s servants were very alert lately, and unexpected flights would definitely merit closer investigation. It had been four years, but the route was still burned into her mind. In the distance she could see the constant movement of the waves of the Boiling Sea, and knew she was heading in the right direction.

Ten minutes or so later, and she spotted the remains of the tall, ruined tower that had stood over the Owl House as long as she had known of its existence. But… something was wrong.

She coasted in to land, and stood, frozen in horror. The tower was there. But the Owl House itself had vanished. All that was left was a crater, as if someone had carved it from the rock. Amity wandered, stumbling like a drunkard, into the dip of the crater, looking around for any indication of what had happened. Of Edalyn, Lilith, King and even Hooty there was no sign. It was as if they, and their mysterious home, had never existed.

In this, the ruins of her last hope, Amity fell to her knees, buried her head in her hands, and sobbed.

***

It was a different Amity who arrived back at Blight Manor the following morning. Quiet, listless, above all obedient. By the time her parents were up, they found their daughter waiting for them, bag packed, dressed in the smart black and white of the Emperor’s Coven, ready to start her new life.

The prison was complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who's commented, left a kudos or bookmarked! So glad you're along for this ride! Love you all! <3
> 
> Hope you like your angst, because we're solidly in it, my lovelies. But don't worry - this story is part of an ongoing series, and angst without a happy ending is just not my style. 
> 
> One more chapter to come, and in that we get to Tanuki's art itself. Buckle up!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz settles back into the Owl House, and the gang formulates a plan of action.

The return to the Owl House was complicated. Getting there physically was hard enough – Eda and Hooty had chosen as remote and wild a place as they could possibly imagine for the first experiment with the portal glyph. They were up in the mountains and forests of the far north of the Isles. The Owl House was nestled into a cleft in one of the towering mountains far far away from prying eyes. Then, of course, Eda had known better than to test the glyph anywhere near the house itself. It took a good two hours of yomping through ankle-deep snow even in the depths of the forest, scrabbling over boulders, hauling themselves over sharp ascents and descents, before they made it back to where Hooty and King were anxiously waiting.

Harder still was the mental shift.

That first evening was eerily dreamlike. Inside the Owl House it was as if nothing had changed in those four years. The furniture sat where it always had, the fire burned untroubled in the fireplace, and Eda’s odd rooms full of chests and books and weapons were the same as they ever had been. Luz sat on the sofa in the living room with a sense of intense dysphoria. Everything was the same, but _she_ was different. Even her body was different. She took up more space. She had to duck when she went through some of the more idiosyncratic doorways. Everything looked the same, but _felt_ just a little too small.

King was a permanent fixture. As soon as she came through the door he was up and in her arms, and apart from shifting from arms to shoulder, from shoulder to lap, he didn’t move. Even when she went to bed, he went with her, curled up in the space between shoulder and jawline as she settled herself inside the familiar sleeping bag. He didn’t say much, oddly for King. Just being close was enough to start with.

If King was quiet, Eda and Lilith had a lot to share. Luz had much to learn about what had been happening in the Boiling Isles since the day she was sent back to the human realm. Eda did most of the talking. She described how Lilith had given up the portal in return for Eda’s freedom and in her owl beast form, Eda had flown them both to the safety of the Owl House. How Lilith had then sacrificed most of her magical power to halt the progress of Eda’s curse, with the result that now both of them were significantly weakened, at least in magical terms. Lilith could still perform lesser magic, but Eda couldn’t even draw a spell circle anymore. Their staffs still held power, and they had both slowly learned how to harness the glyphs that Luz had revealed during her time on the Boiling Isles, but in every other respect their magic was severely limited. 

Luz studied them carefully. A side effect of the spell Lilith used had clearly been visual – each sister now had one slate-grey eye, and each had a white streak through their hair. But for Lilith that was the least of the changes. She now wore glasses, and apart from the white streak, her hair was long, red and curly. Apparently these latter effects were less from the spell and more from some kind of personal decision, but she declined to explain further. Luz decided that this would take some getting used to, on many levels.

While she had been away, the situation on the Boiling Isles had grown much darker. The Emperor’s control, which had been tough even during Luz’s first visit, had tightened. Luz couldn’t miss the air of tension as Eda and Lilith spoke, and she realized that the extent of the troubles facing the Isles may be worse even than what they were sharing. She had returned at a difficult time. 

With this knowledge, Luz finally tried to turn the conversation back to where Eda had originally changed the subject. Her mentor’s clear discomfort with the topic couldn’t put her off forever.

“So tell me about Amity.”

Eda sighed. “Kid, there’s no easy way to say this. Amity’s with Belos.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know she was your friend. But you were gone a long time, Luz. People change.”

Luz frowned. “Amity always put on a front. She had only just begun to show some of the real her when I… when I was sent back. Willow and I saw one of her memories that day you sent Amity and me into Willow’s head – about her parents. They pushed her into doing stuff she really didn’t want to do. This has to be more of that. She’s… she’s different, underneath that act.”

Eda shook her head and fell silent. 

Lilith picked up where her sister left off. “Odalia and Alador – Amity’s parents – I knew them well at school, and during my time with the Emperor’s Coven. They aren’t nice people. But then, you know that, if you saw one of Amity’s memories. Imagine if you had those two preaching at you every day for four years, and nothing pulling you in any other direction. Imagine the pressure she was under. That kind of thing can change who you are, how you think, what you believe is true and important…”

Lilith trailed off for a moment before continuing with an effort. “I speak from experience, Luz. Amity’s been fed propaganda for four years. She belongs to them now.”

“You came back,” Luz said stubbornly. “Apparently.”

“Kid…” That was Eda, in a long-suffering voice.

“Fine!” Luz threw her hands in the air, making King jump. She took a moment to soothe him on her lap. “But if you could see the light, so could she, right?”

“Theoretically.” Lilith folded her arms. “But that’s not going to happen. She’s out of reach. She’s with the Coven, living in the castle, doing whatever terrible things Belos has them doing these days. We, on the other hand, while not quite outlaws, aren’t exactly part of civilized society. We live in the wilderness, for crying out loud. Our paths don’t cross all that often.”

Luz slumped back on the sofa, letting her head fall backward until she was staring up at the ceiling. “This is all wrong.”

“Well it ain’t great,” Eda said dryly.

Luz lifted her head just enough for her to see Eda’s face.

The witch grinned at her, and there was a softness there that she had rarely seen before. “But it’s a lot better now.”

She grinned back, a little sheepish. “Yeah. Yeah it is.”

***

Settling down to sleep that night was the same combination of familiar and strange. The room was the same. Eda hadn’t moved or changed anything. Even the things she had left behind that day were there… perfect, if a little dusty. Eda had even kept her ancient cracked cell phone, although of course it was only useful as a paperweight now. Luz picked up the framed picture that still stood next to the mattress – herself and her mom. Fourteen-year-old Luz looked so young. She carried it over to the window, which she flung wide to let her settle herself on the sill as she always used to do. The view was different now – if you could call the side of a mountain a view – but sitting there to think felt _right_ , at some deep fundamental level.

She wondered what her mom was doing tonight. Worrying, probably. Camilla seemed to spend a lot of time worrying these days. Luz was self-aware enough to know it was for good reason. Their relationship after her return had been… strained. Over the last year or so she hadn’t been good about telling her mom where she was going or when she would be back, and Camilla had complained half-jokingly that she was making her grey before her time. Except she did seem to have more grey around her temples lately, and there were lines across her forehead that she couldn’t remember being there before.

Luz sighed, and climbed back into the room, closing the window against the chill of the night air. She set the picture back beside her bed very gently. She would work out how to deal with the question of her mom tomorrow. Now they had access to a portal glyph it was theoretically possible that she could move back and forward to and from the human realm at will. The question was, did she want to?

It was too much to think about tonight. It had been a long strange day, and the fatigue was catching up with her. She crawled into the sleeping bag, joined a moment later by King curling up close to her neck, tickling her ear with his fur. His comforting warmth lulled her, and she was asleep in a matter of minutes.

***

She woke early, in a panic, wildly disoriented.

She sat up sharply, prompting a sleepy protest from King, and stared around, wide-eyed. 

“King…?” she whispered.

“What? It’s too early. Go back to sleep already.”

“Is this a dream?”

King opened one eye. “What?”

“Pinch me.”

“No! Why?”

“Just do it?”

King grumbled for a second, but at Luz’s look, pulled himself up and pinched her arm painfully between two claws.

“Ouch!”

“Happy?”

She gave him a strangely blank look before fighting to extricate herself from the tube of the sleeping bag. As soon as she was free she dashed from the room. 

A plaintive voice echoed after her. “If you’re starting breakfast, make me some too!”

But she wasn’t headed downstairs. Luz threw herself up the narrow steps to the Owl House’s top floor, taking them two at a time. The door crashed open as she burst into Eda’s room, only to stop in surprise at the sight that greeted her. 

Eda blinked owlishly at her from beneath the heavy blanket that covered the…

“You have a bed!”

Eda screwed her face up in a grimace. “How nice of you to notice. Is that what you came to say?”

“Where’s your nest?”

“It didn’t seem necessary, once I wasn’t turning into an owl beast every five minutes. Which would _you_ prefer to sleep in?”

Luz tumbled to her knees beside the bed, her arms pulling Eda into a peculiar horizontal hug, her face nestled into the crook of the Owl Lady’s neck. Taken by surprise, Eda didn’t move for a moment, but a second later wrapped one bony arm around Luz’s shaking shoulders and held her close.

“Kid… Luz, are you crying?”

“No!” Luz’s muffled voice was followed by an unmistakable sob.

Eda sighed. “Okay. What’s going on?”

Luz didn’t reply for a while. Eda waited patiently. Finally the girl pushed herself back from the awkward embrace and wiped at her eyes. “It’s really you. I’m really here.”

Eda pushed herself up into a sitting position, leaning back on the headboard. “I thought we established that yesterday.”

“You don’t understand.” She took a deep breath. “It wasn’t real for so long. I’d dream of waking up in the Owl House, and then it would be just… just a dream. I had no evidence, nothing to show. Nobody believed me. In the end, even I started to…” she broke off, rubbing at her eyes again.

“You told them? The other humans? About this place?”

“Not at first.” Luz looked up, her eyes red-rimmed. “I thought I’d try to keep the story going. I was back in time for me to have actually been to that stupid summer camp after all. But I wasn’t okay.”

Eda’s face twisted in sympathy as Luz gazed at her.

Luz continued. “I didn’t know what had happened to you! When I was knocked out you had just been taken up to be petrified! I woke up back in the human realm, and… anything could have happened. You could have been dead! I was terrified.” She shook her head at the memory. “My mom’s a nurse. She said to me… she said she knew trauma when she saw it. She knew something was wrong. So I told her. What did I have to lose, right?”

“And she didn’t believe you.”

“How could she?! All I had were my memories and a pocket full of glyphs! She never said outright that she didn’t believe me of course. She was really careful about that. It was always, ‘I believe it seemed real to you,’ and all that rubbish. She thought I’d had a mental break.” Luz looked away. “I’ve talked to a lot of psychiatrists over the last couple of years.”

Eda sighed again. “I’m sorry, Luz. You’re a good kid. You didn’t deserve to go through all that.”

Luz made a dismissive gesture with one hand. “That’s all whatever. What does ‘deserve’ mean, anyway? But can you imagine how it feels to doubt your own memories? I tried to make sure I remembered, that I didn’t let anything slip away. I filled notebooks with drawings and journal entries and glyphs. Just trying to hold onto this place. I went to that house every day. Every day! Just in case something changed. I’d skip school, stay out at night...”

She rubbed a hand ruefully through her hair. “Then my mom found my stash of journals. I thought she was going to pack me off to the hospital on the spot. How it must have looked to her... I don’t know. And then of course I was reading everything I could find about the occult, all the magic-related books I could lay my hands on, hoping to find a way to open a portal from that side. I’m pretty sure her church friends would have got her to send me for an exorcism or something if they’d known.”

“But she didn’t do any of that. She stuck by you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. Yeah, she did. She never stopped trying to help, I’ll give her that. In her mom way.” She stopped abruptly, thinking. “But I could show her now, couldn’t I? I could bring her through. To the Isles.”

Eda’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure? Do you remember how you reacted when you came through that first time? And that was when you were an impressionable teenager. Your mom may find it a little harder to adjust.”

Luz nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. Maybe not that at first, then. But I can still get proof this time. I wonder if I can get cell service through the portal, the way we used to with the old one? Could I send her messages?”

“That’s way above my pay grade, kid.” Eda shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know how that thing works, and the portal we get with the glyph is pretty rough.”

“Could we try it? Today?”

Eda cocked her head, a questioning expression on her face. “Today?”

Luz nodded. “Going back to the human realm was such a huge mess. Everyone got hurt. I guess now I’ve managed to get back here I just want to do things better, you know? I need to let my mom know what’s going on. She’ll be imagining the worst.”

Eda grinned. “Sure, why not. We can hike out in a different direction and give the portal another go. But that means we’ll need to move the House again soon. The Coven might overlook one magical surge, but two in two days will bring them running. Summoning a portal isn’t like one of your little light glyphs. It’s powerful stuff.”

Plans were laid over breakfast, at which they were joined half way through by a yawning Lilith. They would head out into the forest that morning, summon the smallest portal they could manage, and see if Luz could send and receive messages on her phone. Then that evening they would move the Owl House again under cover of darkness.

***

For once, the plan worked. The three hour hike to a mountain a little further north in the same range was not the most fun Luz had ever had, but it went without incident, and the warm winter gear Eda dug out of a closet for her did its job. Before long they reached a likely spot where a rock had sheared away, offering a smooth vertical service perfect for glyphs. This time Luz did the honours, carefully copying out the design Eda showed her, using a stick of charcoal to inscribe a glyph perhaps two inches in diameter. She paused for one last check, waiting for the nod from Eda before tapping the glyph to activate its magical potential.

The rush of power was immediate and shocking, especially when the glyph itself was so tiny. A sound like the crashing of surf echoed off the mountainside and a bright flash forced the whole party to look away. When Luz was able to look back, the glyph had been replaced by a two inch circle filled with a surging white vortex. She stared, fascinated, before Lilith’s urgent voice broke into her thoughts.

“We don’t know how long it will stay open. Do your experiment quickly!”

Luz was aware of some part of her mind concentrating on the portal, holding it stable. She had no sense of how long she’d be able to sustain it. “Right.”

She fished her phone out of a pocket and checked it. A delighted smile lit her face – there was a signal! She wouldn’t be streaming video anytime soon, but it was at least enough to send and receive messages. She had thought ahead and taken some photos ready to send, along with a pre-typed text.

_Mami, I’m sorry for disappearing suddenly. I’m fine. I’m in the Boiling Isles. I know that will be hard to hear, but I’m going to get proof this time. I’ll come back to see you in a few days, but I’ll try to check in before that. Here are some pics of where I’m staying._

Then a string of photos – her bedroom, the living room in the Owl House, a scenery shot of the mountains.

She sent them quickly, half-expecting the mini-portal to disappear any second. It didn’t. A resonant ‘ping!’ announced the safe delivery of her messages.

Luz watched her phone, suddenly sick with nerves. What was Camilla going to make of this latest weirdness from her daughter? A blinking ellipses appeared in the text window. Luz bit her lip. It was there for a worryingly long time. Finally a message field appeared.

_I’m glad you’re ok, Mija. Thank you for checking in. I was worried when you didn’t come home last night. Can you call?_

Luz typed swiftly: _No. Sorry._ She wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not, but a call wouldn’t be much use if the portal disappeared and cut them off halfway through something. Texting was better. Plus she really didn’t want to hear her mother’s voice right now. The typing ellipses flashed a few times before a new message popped up.

_Ok. Please stay safe. You know you can come home and talk to me anytime._

That steady sense of concentration began to waver – the same sense you might get holding up a weight for a long time and feeling your muscles weakening and tiring. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sustain the portal for much longer. She typed furiously.

_Love you Mami._

The ellipses appeared again, but only for a moment as Luz’s concentration finally broke. The portal shuddered, twisted, and then collapsed in on itself, crinkling into nothingness. The rock face was none the worse for wear, with the exception of a single round scorch mark – the only sign that anything had happened. The phone beeped a warning at the sudden lack of signal.

At the same time Luz felt a sudden wash of fatigue. Her legs felt wobbly and a headache began throbbing in her temples. She closed her eyes and rubbed at her head, suppressing a groan. But her eyes flew open again in surprise as she felt cool slender fingers on her jaw, turning her head to meet Lilith’s intense stare.

“Interesting.” Lilith gazed into her eyes, searching. “Sudden fatigue? Headache?”

Luz knocked the witch’s hand away and took a defensive step backwards. “What?”

Lilith didn’t seem offended. “Using the glyph had the same effect on Eda. Creating a portal seems to involve some intense mental focus in the user, and it exacts a price.” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I wonder if practice could improve the length of time someone could hold a portal open, or perhaps enable the creation of a larger portal?”

“Let’s worry about that later.” Eda was digging a potion out of the satchel she had slung around her shoulders. “Drink this. That headache is no joke. It’ll help.”

Luz downed it without a second thought. It was black and tasted vaguely of liquorice. She pulled a disgusted face, but almost immediately the headache began to recede. 

Eda was watching her closely. She nodded, satisfied, as Luz gave her a surprised look. “I was potions track all the way through high school, remember? There’s some crossover with healing, even if Bump wouldn’t let me fully multi-track. Never thought I’d be glad that old codger made me focus on potions, but of all the skills to have when you lose your magic, it’s gotta be one of the most useful.”

***

On the way home they talked in low voices.

“So what next?” Luz asked.

Eda and Lilith exchanged glances, but it was Eda who replied. “We were going to ask you the same thing. We’ve spent all this time trying to get you back - we weren’t really thinking about what we were going to do when we got you.”

Luz nodded, ducking under a tree branch. “I know what you mean. I’ve been focused on just getting here for so long. I guess… could we find Willow? And Gus?”

“We need to move tonight,” Eda said. “I think we could get closer to Bonesborough again without attracting too much attention. I know those two will want to see you. They helped a great deal in our research as we looked for new glyphs.”

Lilith cleared her throat. “And then what?”

Luz’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know how soon we can get to it, or how possible it might be. But Belos hurt me a great deal. He hurt you both. He stole four years of my life. And now he’s hurting people on the Isles, people I care about. I don’t know what his deal is, but he owes me. I want to stop him.”

Eda grinned. “Well I know someone who will be delighted to hear that.”

***

It was late afternoon by the time they got back to the Owl House. As they sat around the kitchen table, munching on hex mix, they discussed their next steps. Lilith insisted it had to be full dark before they tried to move, and suggested they rest up to prepare for the long night ahead.

“But before that,” Eda put in, “let’s prepare the ground for the move.” She dug around in a cupboard, finally emerging with a dusty crystal ball tucked under one arm. “She’ll want us to check in before we get closer to the town.”

Luz frowned at her. “She?”

Eda winked. “There’s no formal organization, but folk who have a bone to pick with our Emperor have begun to get together. They share information about what the Coven is up to, who’s being targeted… that kind of thing. They’ll know if it’s safe to bring the Owl House closer to Bonesborough right now. And they can tell us where exactly we should go.”

“You said ‘she’.” Luz said pointedly.

“Like I said, they aren’t official. So she’s not the official leader. But if they had one, she’d be it.”

“ _Who_?”

“Just hush up and come here.” Eda set the crystal ball down in the middle of the table and traced a series of symbols over its surface, visible in the fine layer of dust. The ball flared white, then amber, and then settled into a flashing green. Eda gave Luz a look. “Let’s hope she’s home.”

Abruptly the ball stopped flashing and settled as a steady, strong green. Then the colour cleared, and the face of a young witch stared out of the crystal.

“Well well well. Look what the palisman dragged in.” Willow smiled warmly. “What can I do for you, Eda?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you checked out Tanuki's animatic for the end of Chapter 2 yet? If not, go check it out right now! Hope you're ready to cry - I know I did.
> 
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypq6ZrTSUcM>
> 
> Thanks to all the new readers, and huge thanks for kudos, comments, bookmarks etc! I'm loving sharing this story with you, and can't wait to show you where we're going next. Are y'all ready?? Let us know how you're getting on with this - seeing your comment notifs pop up in my inbox always absolutely makes my day. Love you all! <3 <3
> 
> The observant among you may have noticed that this story began as a three parter, and has now increased to five parts. This is very simply because there was too much story to squeeze into three chapters. Enjoy!


End file.
